MIDSA
Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA)
Since the establishment of its Mission with Regional Functions (MRF)
in Pretoria, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has
pursued the aim of the OAU in consultation with SADC Governments on
the need for the regional co-ordination of migration management. Building
on the conclusions reached by the senior SADC migration officials who
participated in the International Migration Policy and Law Courses in
Pretoria in 1999, the MRF has initiated a Migration Dialogue for Southern
Africa (MIDSA) to foster regional co-operation on migration-related
issues. The MIDSA initiative creates a framework for a regular migration
dialogue that includes:
- Provision of a forum in which to build trust and confidence between
participating SADC migration officials;
- Promotion of the positive aspects of migration among SADC Member
States;
- Development of regional institutional capacities to deal with migration,
while strengthening the capacity of Governments to meet their migration
challenges in a comprehensive, interactive, self-reliant and, ultimately,
sustainable way;
- Reinforcing the activities of those agencies and organisations that
engage migration issues.
Regional Consultative
Processes on Migration (RCP) now exist in many parts of
the world, and like most of them, MIDSA operates by organising workshops
two to three times per year. Sixteen governments currently participate
with senior officials from two to three ministries/departments from
each country.
Implementation of the MIDSA initiative has occurred because of a collaborative
effort between IOM and its MIDSA partner: the Southern
Africa Migration Project (SAMP). In addition, IOM has maintained
close contact with other relevant international agencies in the promotion
of MIDSA; notably the United Nations
(UN), and the SADC
Secretariat.
In 2006 and 2007 MIDSA invited speakers on other RCPs, notably The
Puebla Process, The
Bali Process, The
5+5 Dialogue and The
Colombo Process, with the aim of fostering further inter-RCP
contacts.
Please click here to
read the MIDSA Workshop Reports.
